Each month, receive tips on the top jobs needed in your garden as well as a wealth of information on a range of gardening topics. From sowing seeds to picking fruit, each month get access to information on the care and maintenance of your flowerbeds, vegetable plot and lawn. As with your own gardening diary, the journal is split into separate sections, each covering a different area of garden care.

Wednesday, 1 February 2017

Lawn Care: Questions and Answers

Q. What can I do to get rid of ants in the lawn? Counted over 50 ant hills last year on small lawns front and back - about 150 sq mtrs max. I have tried the normal powders and sprays and also drilled down into the hill before applying powder but no luck. Is there anything on the market that will completely eradicate the problem?A. Ants are certainly a nuisance but they usually are easily dealt with by brushing out the anthills. However, you seem to have been taken over. It may be your lawn is a particularly attractive area for the queen(s) to have settled in. Regular scarifying, aerating and treating for moss and weeds will help create healthier grass and limit the invasion of new queens but your problem obviously needs a quicker fix. The problem is the nests cover much greater areas underground than is obvious on the surface. It’s worth trying, if you haven’t already, introducing a pathogenic nematode which will infect and kill the larvae and cause irritation to the adults so they abandon the nest and disperse. Nemasys No Ants is a product that contains nematodes that are harmless other than to the ants. It comes as a powder which is mixed with water and the microscopic, worm-like nematodes are watered into the soil where the ants are bringing it to the surface. Follow the instructions carefully as it is a cure rather than a preventative, so needs to be applied in the right conditions. Below is a link to the Royal Horticultural Society list of biological control suppliers which may also help you in your quest for a solution.

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